Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN: This was originally the last part of For the Hokage Who has Everything, but I decided that it was out of place and removed it and turned it into this companion piece, with a little sprucing of course.

Lean On Me

It had been two weeks since Sasuke Uchiha had been captured attempting to perform his final act of revenge against Konoha and its Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. Placing himself and Naruto in a modified version of the Eye of the Moon Tsukuyomi and making him see who knows what. And what had he seen? That was the question Ino had been trying to unravel for those two weeks but with little effect as Naruto had been tight lipped about the whole ordeal and had avoided her questions at every turn.

Sasuke, still in his self-imposed fantasy world, was interrogated as only a Yamanaka could with Ino receiving nothing excepted fractured memories and jumbled madness for her troubles. She was able to determine at the very least that Sasuke had acted alone and that was good enough as far as Naruto was concerned with what they needed to extract from him. Sasuke was quietly put to death a day later unaware, blissfully ignorant and alone, a sad chapter at last over for Konoha.

Life as it were tried to return to normal. Naruto refused to speak about what had happened and did what he always did when confronted with something he wanted to ignore and worked. Hidden away in his office, he had been sleeping and eating there for two weeks now. Ino had stubbornly refused to leave him in peace however and had tried multiple times to get him to open up, dragging Iruka and Kakashi along to try and fail to get him to talk. Now out of options, Ino found herself in front of the Hyuga estates and staring down a rather stern looking guard.

"I'm here to see Hinata," Ino said as the guard gave her an appraising look.

"Lady Hinata is a very busy woman," the guard replied. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I don't need an appointment buster," Ino growled stalking forward.

"It's okay Hoheto," a calm voice called out grabbing both guard and guest's attention.

"Forgive me Lady Hinata, but you know you're father does not like interruptions during clan meetings," Hoheto said bowing.

"I understand," Hinata said smiling, "as does Ino I'm sure."

"Yes of course," Ino said bowing obnoxiously low, "I would never interrupt if it wasn't of the utmost importance."

Whatever retort Hoheto had was immediately cut off as Hinata raised her hand in a soothing fashion. "Either way the meetings have concluded for the day, I shall escort my guest inside."

"As you wish Lady Hinata."

Hinata beckoned Ino to follow as Hoheto resumed his duties at the front gate. No sooner were they out of earshot did both girls erupt into a fit of giggles.

"I can't believe you did that," Hinata said shoving her friend lightly.

"You can't believe me," Ino laughed incredulity, "what about you strutting around like a princess? I should be calling you you're royal majesty Hinata Hyuga," Ino droned.

"I really hate it when they do that," Hinata sighed.

"Well you deserve it," Ino chided, "being the clan heir should have some perks."

"It does," Hinata sighed leading the way towards the gardens, "I don't wear the seal."

"Still no luck on that front," Ino asked as she followed.

"There's nothing I can do except plant the seeds," Hinata said taking a seat on bench. "I'm not the clan head yet and I need to be careful I don't make my intentions known. I swear if I had a choice between clan politics and fighting ninja I would face an army before going to a single meeting."

"I've heard Naruto say the same thing about his meetings with the elders," Ino said smiling sadly.

"How is Naruto doing?"

"He's the reason I'm here," Ino explained unconsciously tugging at her bang.

"That bad," Hinata said frowning.

"He's been locked in that office for two weeks," Ino moaned. "I've tried everything and everyone to get him to talk, just to talk, to any of us. But you know how he is. I'm fine; I don't want to talk about it now but later. Then he hopes you forget about it."

"Do you know what's wrong?"

"I can't be a hundred percent," Ino said looking around before lowering her voice. "Sasuke used a variation of the Eye of the Moon Tsukuyomi on Naruto. It isn't common knowledge because we didn't want there to be any more attention drawn to the matter than necessary."

"Go on," Hinata said surprised at that piece of information.

"I tried to enter his mind to break him free of the genjutsu. I couldn't make out anything aside from a few images. One of the images I did see…was Sakura."

"I see," Hinata said quietly.

"We both know that genjutsu was supposed to create a perfect dream world to the one affected and from the way Naruto reacted when he snapped out of it, there is a very good chance Sakura was a part of that dream world."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to get him to open up. It doesn't have to be to you, but to someone. We've been down this road with him before and I don't want this to go on any longer," Ino sighed. "You have a way with him we all don't. I don't know what it is but you're one of the few people that were able to get through to him after she…after she was gone. I hate to ask you to do this. We all know how you felt…"

"Feel," Hinata said cutting her off, "my feelings for him have never changed."

"Even if he doesn't feel the same way," Ino asked looking shocked.

"What he doesn't feel for me changes nothing," Hinata said quietly.

Ino couldn't help but stare in awe at the woman before her. The war had changed all of them, how could it have not? A scar each of them now carried in one form or another. For some it was the loss of a loved one, for others it was the end to any naïve ideas they once held about the world. For Hinata it had been a little of both.

She had watched friend and family alike taken by the destruction and hatred breed by the times. She had also come to accept the fact that the boy, no the man, she loved could not look at her in the same light. She had taken that in stride, glad that at the very least she had laid her cards on the table and could move on with no regrets, a task easier said than done.

She had gained acceptance during the war as a strong leader, one who was worthy of being an heir to Konoha's most powerful clan. Gradually the others began to see the shifts in her personality, subtle at first but soon becoming clearer in their scope. Where once there was a shy wallflower, now stood a quiet but commanding presence. Words spoken with nervous insecurity had been replaced by easygoing confidence. Stutter plagued babbling exchanged for razor sharp wit. But despite all these changes she was still kind and still gentle, still Hinata.

After hearing that Naruto had let her down as best he could a few people, Ino and Kiba mostly had feared that she might have withered under that disappointment. Too everyone's surprise she bloomed. It was assumed that she had long since moved on from her romantic devotion to Naruto, the changes in her a sign that she had become stronger as a person due to having pushed those feelings aside. The fact she had grown so much despite loving a man who would not love her back, a weight that wrapped around her neck everyday made Ino's respect for the woman that much greater.

"Hinata…I…" Ino said at a loss.

"You don't have to say it," Hinata said smiling sadly, "I know it's silly."

"No," Ino said quickly surprising both of them, "it isn't silly. It's what that idiot needs to hear. Maybe then he can understand that he doesn't need to handle this alone."

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It was raining out, the village sagging under the gray sky devoid of the normal hustle and bustle he had grown accustom to seeing from his office window. He was looking over some papers with his back to the door when his secretary knocked.

"Yes," he asked not turning around.

"Pardon me sir, but your lunch is here."

"Oh…thank you please send them in."

He heard the door open and close and the soft fall of footsteps. "Too light to be Teuchi, probably Ayame," Naruto thought as he turned around. "I'm sorry to drag you out into the rain like this Ayame…" Naruto began before freezing.

"No trouble at all Lord Hokage," Hinata said smiling and holding a takeout bag.

"Did Ino send you to talk to me," Naruto grumbled.

"I can't bring my friend lunch," Hinata said feigning confusion.

"No of course not," Naruto said cleaning off the desk allowing Hinata to place the various ramen containers out. "Well, thank you for stopping bye."

"Oh…I guess I should be going…oh wait, they seemed to have packed one of the large salads with your order. It would be a shame to let it go to waste…and I could stay for lunch."

"Oh no I'm very hungry," Naruto said quickly, "I'll probably eat that as well. You know, being Hokage is hard work."

"Ah I see…very well," Hinata said removing the lid and putting the greens in front of him, "eat it."

Naruto looked at the bowl of weeds and then back at Hinata, her stance clearly indicating she wasn't going until he ate the salad or gave in.

"Would you like to join me," Naruto asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh thank you that is so kind," Hinata cheerfully said pulling up a chair.

"I think I liked you better when you used to faint around me," Naruto sighed picking at his food.

"And I liked you better when you smiled more often," Hinata said looking at him seriously.

"I know," Naruto said quietly.

They ate in relative silence at first, a little small talk about the weather or what had been going on recently in their lives. A few carefully aimed questions however and she soon had Naruto going off on the elders and their seemingly endless boring lectures or bits of advice. Naruto loved to talk and tell stories. It was something Hinata had learned early on and she knew that with a slight prompt it could send him into a tirade against something or could have him rehashing a particularly funny story. It was one of the ways she could get him to talk to her when they were younger, without her having to contribute more than a sentence every now and again. Eventually the conversation would lead him to Sakura and that would lead to him retreating back into the shell and it would be her job to stop him before he did.

"And then Shizune comes stalking up to Kakashi sensei and me looking like she was going to chain us to the beds," Naruto said chuckling. "I thought she was going to hit us at first. Remember that time when me and Sai escaped to meet you guys at the restaurant. Sakura…Sakura hit us so hard," Naruto said as his eyes lowered. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Hinata said shaking her head.

"It's just…with everything that happened between us," Naruto said guiltily looking away, "it's not a problem you should concern yourself with."

"You're my friend Naruto. Your problems are my concern."

"I can't start weighing everyone down with my problems. I'm the Hokage now, I have a responsibility."

"You' re a person as well not just the Hokage. No one asked you to face this alone," Hinata said softly as Naruto remained silent. "They're all worried about you."

"I know and I'm sorry. When I'm ready to talk about it I will but for right now just leave it."

"And when will you be ready? We want to help you. You can't carry every burden by yourself."

"Believe me I know that and I appreciate that you're worried. Give me some time and I'll be back to as good as new," Naruto said offering a wide smile.

"Don't do that," Hinata yelled slamming her hands on the desk.

"Don't do what," Naruto asked taken somewhat aback.

"Do not give me that fake smile and tell me everything is going to be fine. It may work on the others but it will not work on me."

"I don't know what…"

"That's the same smile you had when we were children," Hinata said lowering her voice, "the one you used to hide the mountain of pain you kept buried. I didn't know what it was until I saw it right before the chunin exams. When you told me about your fears and I saw that the smile I fell in love with was a lie."

"Hinata…" Naruto sighed turning away.

"It's okay to admit you're sad or afraid or lonely," Hinata said placing a hand on his cheek, turning his head towards her. "We love you," Hinata said holding his gaze, "you were always so strong for us. Let us be strong for you."

Naruto was still, his cheek in Hinata's hand, his eyes closed as he contemplated her words. He wasn't alone without her. Sakura was gone but he still had people who were precious, still had people who loved him and he wasn't going to let them down. Opening his eyes, he could only chuckle and give a small but genuine smile.

"When did you get so tough Hinata Hyuga."

"I had a good teacher."

After rereading my last one shot I definitely felt that the last part was out of place. I didn't want to abandon it though so like I said here is the result. It's not as long as the other, but I may return to this later, for now it is just a one shot. Until next time read and review people.